Over 2.7 million euros in cash and precious metals were seized during the BELENOS II customs operation.
The joint actions, carried out in November 2024 and organized by French customs together with the Spanish customs administration and Europol, involved 23 EU customs administrations, including the “Customs“ Agency. This was announced by the agency.
During the checks carried out, the “Customs“ Agency detected an attempt to transport undeclared currency by a passenger passing through the Kapitan Andreevo border crossing point, in the amount of approximately 25,000 euros.
In and outside the framework of the specialized operation in 2024 Bulgarian customs authorities have identified cash equivalent to 13.9 million. BGN, for which the obligation to declare was not fulfilled.
The amount has decreased compared to the previous few years as a positive effect of the adopted changes to the Currency Act and the Criminal Code, which introduced a clear procedure for proving the origin of the funds and provided for more severe penalties.
Overall, within the framework of the operation, in cooperation with Europol, significant amounts of undeclared cash were discovered, including in the form of precious metals.
65 of the checks were carried out by French customs, which also made the largest seizure within the period of the joint actions - during a check of a transit passenger at Roissy Airport, more than 580,000 euros and 18 gold bars with a total value of over 1.7 million euros were found.
The total financial assets established within the framework of the operation of over 2.7 million euros are expected to increase in time given the financial audits currently being carried out across Europe and the ongoing legal proceedings.